NOTES AND QUERIES. 187 



one remained till the 31st, since which date I have not seen them. The 

 Sclavonian Grebes up to March 25th showed no other sign of summer 

 plumage than a slight elongation of the black feathers of the crown, giving 

 the head a triangular appearance. Last year, however, I noticed one far 

 up the Traeth back, in full breeding dress, on April 21st. — G. H. Catok 

 Haigh (Aber-Ia, Penrhyndeudraeth, Merionethshire, N. Wales). 



Wheatear in North Lincolnshire in March. -At page 144 Mr. 

 Harrison records the appearance in March of a Wheatear " still in winter 

 plumage." If no mistake has been made, this must have been an unusual 

 circumstance. I have often seen the Wheatear in North Wales about the 

 date mentioned, but specimens obtained rarely showed more than a very 

 slight trace of the brown plumage assumed in autumn. If Mr. Harrison's 

 bird was not obtained, how did he ascertain that it was not a female the 

 plumage of which would differ very little with the season. — G. H. Caton 

 Haigh. 



Ornithological Notes from Redcar. — In the notes last sent I made 

 an error (p. 137) in referring to the Skuas. I wrote, " The Skua tribe was 

 well represented in September, chiefly] 8. parasiticus." This should be 

 S. crepidatus. Will you see that this is corrected? And I omitted (p. 138) 

 the date of the finding of a Little Auk washed up on the shore here ; it 

 should be February 1st. — T. H. Nelson (Apsley House, Eedcar). 



The Rock Thrush in Cheshire. — On April 4th last I saw a specimen 

 of the Rock Thrush, Turdus saxatilis, on the Overton Hills, near Frodsham, 

 Cheshire. The bird did not appear to be very shy, and I was able to watch 

 it for fully five minutes ; the head, neck, and upper part of the back were 

 light grey, the wings and greater wing-coverts dark brown ; the lower part 

 of the back nearly white, and speckled with grey ; the tail very light 

 brownish grey, with two or three dark grey feathers in the centre ; the 

 whole of the under side appeared to be a pale chestnut. From Yarrell's 

 description of T. saxatilis I believe the bird I saw to be a male specimen. 

 Has this rare bird been recorded in England recently ? — Alfked Fryer, 

 Jun. (23, Stanley Street, Warrington). 



[The last we heard of was reported to have been seen at Freshwater, 

 Isle of Wight (Zool. 1867, pp. 823, 913); but the late Mr. Frederick Bond, 

 who investigated the matter, pronounced it to be a mistake. — Ed.] 



The late Mr. Bond's Collection of Birds. — Ornithologists will be 

 interested to hear that the fine collection of British Birds formed by the 

 late Mr. F. Bond, the work of a lifetime, has been purchased by Mr. J. 

 Whitaker, of Rainworth Lodge, Mansfield, Notts. Mr. Whitaker informs 

 us that he has secured this collection chiefly with the object of obtaining 

 the extraordinary series of varieties which it contains, and that, as a great 

 number of other specimens are already represented in his own collection, 



