112 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



at Sheldon, Warwickshire. One of the three you have identified for me as 

 Motacilla flava. There was a considerable flock of these birds, as the 

 farmer who shot them told me at the time that they were " dotted all over 

 his meadow amongst the cows," and were very tame. After the second day 

 they all disappeared and did not return. About the same time (the 5th or 

 6th May), whilst digging in my garden at King's Heath, Worcestershire, one 

 of these elegant little birds settled so close to me that I could clearly see 

 the characteristic pale eye-streak, and its glistening black eye. It returned 

 repeatedly during the day to the little heap of manure on one of the beds, 

 and on the following day disappeared. It was undoubtedly one of the 

 Sheldon flock, for King's Heath, in Worcestershire, is not more than ten 

 miles, as the crow flies, from Sheldon, Warwickshire, the two counties 

 adjoining. All four birds were apparently immature. — F. Coburn (Holloway 

 Head, Birmingham). 



Sabine's Snipe in Ireland. — I obtained a very fine specimen of this 

 variety from a lot of Snipe sent into our market on the 17th January last. 

 The whole plumage of the bird is sooty black, with minute markings of 

 yellowish brown over head, neck, wings, and back : no indications of the 

 stripes on back or head so conspicuous in the common form ; the under 

 wing-coverts and axillary feathers are plain black — no dappling or bars 

 whatever. The bird proved, on dissection, to be a male, in good condition, 

 weighing i\ oz., and measured, from front of bill to extremity of tail, 11 in. ; 

 bill, 2| in., which, with the legs, were greyish black. — Edward Williams 

 (2, Dame Street, Dublin). 



Pied Flycatcher near Harwich. — On the 12th May, 1S90, two Pied 

 Flycatchers, Muscicapa atricapilla, were seen in a garden at Dovercourt : 

 and the male was shot by a boy scaring birds. This is the first instance 

 that I know of its having occurred in this neighbourhood. I have only 

 once before seen this species in the eastern counties ; that was a solitary 

 bird, some years since, at Northrepps, near Cromer, in Norfolk. — F. Kerry 

 (Harwich). 



Rose«coloured Pastor in Warwickshire. — On the 10th November 

 last an immature female of Pastor roseus was shot from a flock of Starlings 

 at Sutton Coldfield. The bird had commenced the moult into the adult 

 plumage, the black feathers just appearing amongst the primaries, tertials, 

 central tail-feathers, and under tail-coverts. The rest of the plumage is 

 greyish or slaty brown, with indications of buff under the tips of the 

 feathers on breast and back. There is no white on throat, the colour being 

 the same greyish brown as on the head and neck. — F. Coburn (Holloway 

 Head, Birmingham). 



Parrot Crossbill in Ireland.— It is a curious fact, and perhaps worth 

 recording, that all the examples of Crossbill which I have received for 



