472 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



has sent it to be stuffed. A Mr. Coles, of Keyhaven, told me he had killed 

 a Sabine's Gull on Oct. 21st last ; it is at the stuffer's now, but I hope to 

 see it soon, and trust it will prove to be correctly identified, not having any 

 note of this occurring before in Hants. I ought to mention that during 

 the dates on which the Phalaropes were so plentiful a large number of 

 Buffon's Skuas were here ; I saw five in view at once. Curiously, they 

 were mostly adult birds, but the date was just too late for them to have the 

 long tail-feathers. I managed to shoot two that had not moulted them, 

 which I wanted to place with one adult I shot in 1879. Immature birds 

 I have often shot.— Edward Hart (Christchurch, Hants). 



Wildfowl on Rainworth Water, Notts. — When walking round the 

 lake here, in August last, I was very much surprised to see a Pochard, 

 never before having seen one here during the summer, though this water is 

 just the place one would expect to see one. 1 was more astonished to see 

 a male in full winter plumage ; his head was as red and his back as grey as 

 they might have been on Christmas Day. The other wildfowl on the water 

 were forty-two Tufted Ducks, nine Shovellers, six Teal, five common Wild 

 Ducks, one Scaup (very early), and one Great Crested Grebe; besides very 

 many Coots and Waterheus. I may add that yesterday (Nov. 9th), there 

 were ninety-five common Wild Ducks here. — J. Whitaker (Rainworth, 

 Mansfield, Notts). 



Notes from West Sussex. — 1 have to report to you the recent occur, 

 rence of three Fork-tailed Petrels. One fell in Midhurst, Oct. 16th, and 

 was fed with morsels of cod-fish, but died next day ; weight barely three- 

 quarters of an ounce, The second was found near your old haunt, Elsted 

 Down, on Oct. 20th. The third was picked up on Oct. 23rd at Pallingham, 

 Wisborough Green, by a shepherd of Mr. Percy Neale, and forwarded to 

 me ; I have sent it to Pratt's, Brighton, for preservation. These birds 

 must have gone till they dropped. Mr. Arnold reports from Emsworth, 

 Oct. 20th, a good specimen of the Pomatorhine Skua (Stercorarius pomato* 

 rhinus). On Oct. 24th another Skua, killed at Selsey, Was shown to 

 Mr. Arnold in Chichester, but he had not time to determine whether it was 

 one of the same species, or Richardson's Skua. I tried to see this bird, 

 but failed. A great many Grey Phalaropes have occurred in different 

 localities, as at Thorney, Havant, Eastney Barracks, Portsmouth, Emsworth, 

 Midhurst Mill, and Lynchmere ; the last two I saw. On October 22nd, 

 Mr. Arnold reported another example of the Pomatorhine Skua, brought 

 to him from Emsworth. The curator of the Chichester Museum, Mr. 

 Anderson, reported to me a month ago that Scoters had bred successfully 

 near Chichester this year. — H. D. Gordon (Halting Vicarage, Petersfield). 



[This we doubt ; most likely the birds referred to were Tufted Ducks. 

 Further details are desirable.— En.] 



