832 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



by a few Oregon (t Robins," T. ncevius — easily distinguished by the dark 

 crescent on their chestnut breasts. About the middle of April Humming- 

 birds arrive, though an occasional one is seen earlier in the month. Two 

 species are said to frequent this coast as far north as Alaska, but I have 

 hitherto only met with the Red-backed species, Selasphorus rufus. These 

 are very numerous, and literally swarm during the summer months round 

 foxgloves in our garden. They leave us quite simultaneously about the end 

 of July. May brings the Swallows — the Barn Swallow, Hirundo horreorum, 

 and White-bellied Swallow, H. bicolor — both of which breed under the 

 eaves of the houses here. None were seen this year later than the end of 

 August. Other summer visitors are the Olive-backed Thrushes, Turdus 

 ustulatus, which, though very numerous, arrive late and leave early; 

 Townsend's Warbler, Dendrceca townsendi ; Summer Warbler, D. mtiva; 

 and a Flycatcher, Empidonax sp., which I have not yet identified. The 

 inlets along the coast swarm with ducks of many species, with which may 

 be observed Cormorants, Divers, and occasionally Swans, Canada Geese, 

 Bernicla canadensis, pass overhead in immense flocks during the spring and 

 autumn migrations. The Black Oystercatcher, Hamatopus niger, and 

 several species of Sandpiper frequent the beach. — J. H. Keen (Massett, 

 Queen Charlotte Island, British Columbia]. 



Reminiscences of the Kite in Bucks. — In the neighbourhood of the 

 quaint old village of Quainton, in the Vale of Aylesbury, where I first saw 

 daylight, there are many local names testifying to the former presence of 

 the Kite, such as "Kite's Hill," " Kite's Wood," &c. When I was a boy 

 our old gardener (Lloyd by name) used to delight me by telling stories 

 of Kites picking up chickens from the farmyard, &c. He also used to 

 relate how, when they found a nest of young birds, by a simple but cruel 

 process, they caused the young birds to cry with pain, and that the old 

 birds, supposing they were cold, would rob the drying-grounds of socks and 

 small linen, of which the boys, of course, obtained possession. The old 

 man, however, was not always veracious. — J. Young (64, Hereford Road, W.) 



[He may well have been so in this instance. The habit of carrying off 

 small linen with which to line the nest was long ago noted, when Kites 

 were more common in England. Shakespeare wrote, " when the Kite builds 

 look to lesser linen" (' Winter's Tale,' iv. 2), and more modern observers 

 have confirmed the truth of the remark- See the illustrations in support 

 thereof given in ' The Ornithology of Shakespeare,' pp. 46, 47. — Ed.] 



REPTILES. 



Variety of Common or Ringed Snake.— On the 16th of October last 

 I met with a very distinct and pretty variety of Natrix torquata on 

 Bloxworth Heath. It is of an ashy white colour, with a broad pale 

 yellow-brown stripe down the middle of the upper side, from end to end, and 



