182 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



some vessel which may have shortly weighed anchor and carried it out of sight 

 of the coast. On nearing land again after crossing the Atlantic, it may have 

 taken wing as soon as it perceived the shore, and have gradually moved to 

 the place where it was found and shot. An obvious objection to this theory 

 is that it could have eaten nothing under the circumstances for eight days. 

 But Bitterns like Herons may have great powers of fasting. The latter 

 when captured alive and kept in confinement, have been known to refuse 

 all food (even fish), when offered to them, for many days. On the other 

 hand, this is not the only way in which the occurrence of A. virescens may 

 be accounted for. It may have been purposely imported by some one and 

 made its escape; or as Bitterns like Herons can swim well, although not 

 web-footed, it may have crossed the ocean, resting at intervals on the 

 surface in a calm. Many instances are known of Sandpipers, Plovers, 

 Pigeons, and other birds not web-footed, resting temporarily on the water. 

 (See ' The Field,' July 3rd, 1875.) Again, the appearance of an American 

 Bittern in this country is not only not unprecedented, but has been reported 

 some five-and-twenty times, and it is a singular fact that the so-called 

 " American Bittern," Ardea lentiginosa of Montagu, was first described and 

 named in 1813 by that distinguished ornithologist from a specimen killed 

 in Dorsetshire a year before it was recognized as a North-American 

 species by Wilson in 1814. If its larger relative then has experienced 

 no insuperable difficulty in finding its way to this country, there is no 

 a priori objection to a visit under similar conditions, whatever they may be, 

 of A. virescens. I have only to add that, in the opinion of Dr. Sclater, this 

 bird should be referred to the genus Butorides, the species of which possess 

 characters that naturally place them between the true Herons [Ardea) and 

 the Little Bitterns (Ardetta), and in this opinion Mr. Sharpe concurs. — 

 J. E. Hart [no. 



Hawfinch in Glamorganshire. — I have lately obtained a fine male 

 Hawfinch, Coccothraustes vulgaris, which was picked up dead in the Rectory 

 garden of a neighbouring village, and was in a very emaciated condition. 

 The Hawfinch is a very scarce bird in this county. — Digby S. W. Nicholl 

 (The Ham, Cowbridge). 



Pied Variety of the Red Grouse. — Early in September, 1888, 

 I examined a recently-preserved pied variety of the Red Grouse, a bird of 

 the year. A large irregular patch on the breast, two primaries in one 

 wing, and one primary and three secondaries in the other were pure white. 

 It was shot somewhere in Scotland, but in what part I did not hear. — 

 O. V. ArLiN (Bloxham, Oxon). 



Dipper in Gloucestershire. — A Dipper was shot at Bourton-on-the- 

 Water, in the latter half of September, 1888 ; it was of the ordinary British 

 type. 1 do not know if the Dipper ever breeds in Gloucestershire, but it 



