202 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



7th. Mr. William Bazeley, of Sheep Street, Northampton, 

 wrote, under this date, to inform me that he had recently received, 

 for preservation, from Maidwell, a Bittern " much reduced hy 

 starvation," killed on 24th ult. 



11th. A flock of about twenty Geese going over "upwards" 

 (i. e. in a S.W. direction), reported by R. Cosgrave. 



16th. A Swan passed high over the house "downwards" 

 (i.e. to theN.E.).— R. C. 



20th. Complete thaw, after more or less severe frost since 

 2nd inst. A lady staying with us reported having seen a large 

 bird of prey flying over our pleasure-grounds early this morning, 

 with such detail as to leave no doubt in my mind of its being a 

 Rough-legged Buzzard. 



23rd. I received from Mr. H. Field, of Kettering, a bad skin 

 of a male Red-breasted Merganser (cf. Zool. April 21st, 1890), 

 and, for identification, a skin of Knot : this latter bird, as Mr. Field 

 informs me, was picked up on Dec. 5th ult., near a brook on the 

 north side of Kettering, by a man who had picked up another (?), 

 in the same spot, eleven years ago. 



24th. Song Thrushes in full song. S.W. wind with much 

 rain. 



26th. One of our gamekeepers reports that many of our 

 Partridges are paired. 



27th. I received as a present from Mr. Robert Whitworth, of 

 Houghton Mills, Northampton, a stuffed specimen of Arctic Skua, 

 Lestris crepidatus, with the information that he shot the bird in 

 that neighbourhood on Oct. 14th ult. My son reported about a 

 hundred Mallard, eighteen or twenty Wild Geese, a small bunch 

 of Teal, and a small trip of Golden Plovers on the flooded 

 meadows below Thrapston. The Rev. E. Moore reported thirty 

 or forty Wild Geese as having been seen at Biggin, near Oundle. 



Jan. 30th. Our shooting party saw a solitary Curlew on 

 ploughed land near Achurch. Many Curlews pass up and down 

 our valley in autumn and spring, but I do not remember to have 

 previously heard of one in this neighbourhood at this time of year. 



February. 

 5th. The decoyman reports a pair of Pintails on the decoy- 

 pool. An adult male Common Pochard shot by my son, and a 

 male Tufted Pochard by a gamekeeper on the river. 





