N T OTES AND QUERIES. 189 



pity that the authorities did not take more trouble in naming the exhibits 

 in their catalogue. There could be no difficulty in ascertaining the species 

 of such birds as Wheatear, Redstart, or Yellowhammer. Moreover, many 

 of the birds which were named were wrongly identified ; for instance, a 

 White Blackbird figured in the Catalogue as a "White Meadow Pipit"; a 

 Tree Sparrow as a " Bramble finch " ; a Brambling as a " Reed Sparrow " ; 

 a Yellow Wagtail as a " Chiffchaff " ; and so on. Under the title of 

 " Bunting" the Dunfermline Emberiza melanocephala (Zool. 1887, p. 193) 

 appeared for the fifth consecutive year, but did not appear to be in very 

 flourishing condition. — Arthur H. Macpherson (51, Gloucester Place, 

 Hyde Park). 



[A note on the hybrids exhibited at last year's show will be fouud in 

 Zool. 1890, p. 106.— Ed.] 



Notes from Somerset. — A Red-throated Diver, Colymbus septentrionalis, 

 a young male, was shot in the river three miles below this town, in 

 November last, The only other specimen recorded to have been met with 

 in this county is one which was picked up dead (Cecil Smith, ' Birds of 

 Somerset,' p. 543) ; but as this book was published twenty years ago, the 

 occurrence of this bird in Somersetshire may have been subsequently noted. 

 The gentleman who shot the specimen above referred to, and in whose 

 possession it is, has also a Pied Flycatcher, Motacilla atricapilla, shot near 

 here, and a Great-crested Grebe, Podicipes cristatus, shot near Taunton in 

 December last, — both rare visitors to this county. A Goosander, Mergus 

 merganser, a young male, was killed in the marshes, and sent to me for 

 identification on Jan. 9th. In the stomach were three small roach, — one 

 partly digested, — a small eel, and the remains of other roach. A Smew, 

 Mergus albellus, male, was brought to me on Jan. 14th, shot in the river 

 two miles below the town, with another Goosander, shot at the same time 

 and place. On Jan. 28th a Bewick's Swan, Cygnus Bewickii, was shot at 

 the mouth of the river, and brought to me ; another I saw in the bird- 

 stuffer's shop. Many geese have been killed this winter in the neighbour- 

 hood, but unfortunately I have not been able to see any of them for 

 identification, which I regret, as there are one or two species not yet 

 recorded in Somerset. I shall be glad, at all times, of particulars of rare 

 birds killed or identified in this county, if any of your readers will kindly 

 send them to me.— H. St. B. Goldsmith (King Square, Bridgewater). 



The Great Grey Shrike.— Glancing over my remarks on this species 

 (pp. 96 — 100), it occurs to me to supply a few omissions by sending you 

 a further note. The earliest allusion to the presence of this Shrike in the 

 British Isles that I have come across in my reading is that of Giraldus 

 Cambrensis in the well-known ' Topographica Hibernica.' Willughby was 

 perhaps the first English naturalist to describe the employment of this 



