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THE ZOOLOGIST. 



Teal. — Two were seen by Mr. Lambert on the river adjoining 

 Port Meadow on Sept. 19th, 1890. 



Golden-eye. — Mr. Sargent records, in the * Oxford Times,' 

 that he shot one on Dec. 10th, 1890, on the Everilode between 

 Handborough Mill and Eynsham. Mr. Darbey informs me that 

 he had two or three more during the winter ; and a duck recorded, 

 in the ' Oxford Times,' as a Bufiie-head, shot near Ditchley 

 early in December, was, I believe, from the description I had of 

 it, nothing more than a female Golden-eye. I think one of the 

 above-named birds was possibly a Scaup, but I have not seen it. 



Common Scoter. — A beautiful old drake, in fine plumage, 

 was shot on the moat at Broughton Castle on Oct. 23rd, 1890. 

 Another fine drake, shot at Weirs Mill, between Ifiiey and Folly 

 Bridge on Dec. 12th, is recorded in the * Oxford Times.' 



WINTER NOTES from SWITZERLAND and NORTH ITALY. 

 By A. Holte Macpherson, B.C.L., M.A., F.Z.S. 



In November last I started for a few weeks' holiday, which, 

 after a few days' rest at Lucerne, I spent in North Italy. Being 

 alone and ignorant of Italian, I took an ordinary circular ticket ; 

 and the following notes from my diary, though comprising nothing 

 particularly new, may perhaps be of interest in so far as they 

 indicate some of the birds which may be met with by an observer 

 who remains entirely on the beaten track of tourists. 



On Nov. 14th I arrived at Lucerne, and found the Coots on 

 the lake as numerous as ever ; there were also a good many Little 

 Grebes, and some Black-headed Gulls, one of which — perhaps an 

 old bird — still retained an almost complete dark hood. Towards 

 sunset several flocks of Wild Duck were seen flying to the south, 

 but were too far off for identification. A long stream of Alpine 

 Choughs, Pyrrhocorax alpinus, also passed across the lake ; they 

 were at a great height, but in the stillness of the evening their 

 curious cry — like a cork being screwed out of a bottle — was 

 distinctly audible. At first I thought this might be a movement 

 of a migratory nature, but as I saw some a few evenings later at 

 the same hour, probably they were merely returning from their 

 feeding grounds, just as Rooks do. 



