96 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



8th. I heard, on good authority, of the very recent occurrence 

 of Snow Buntings near Kettering. 



17th. A Puffin recently obtained near Cottingham was sent 

 to me as a specimen of Little Auk. I heard, to my infinite 

 disgust, of the destruction of a pair of Hobbies with one of their 

 brood, in Salcey Forest, in August last. 



21st. The decoy-man tells of two Shovellers on the pool. 

 Many Curlews heard passing over Lilford in the fog this 

 morning. 



22nd. Two Goldeneyes reported in our park-pond. 



25th. My friend Mr. G. M. Edmonds, of Oundle, in a letter 

 received to-day, informs me of a bird seen several times by 

 him, his son, and others, in and near Oundle, during the past 

 summer, that could have been nothing more or less than a male 

 Golden Oriole. 



December. 



6th. A small trip of Golden Plovers seen by my son near 

 Thorpe. 



7th. An immature Common Gull shot at Lilford. 



8th. A very fine adult male Pochard shot on the river below 

 the house at Lilford. Seven Golden-Plovers passing south- 

 wards. 



10th. About 100 " fowl"— Mallard, Wigeon, Shovellers, and 

 Pochards — seen on the flooded meadows below Lilford ; this is 

 the first noteworthy congregation of wildfowl of which I have 

 heard this season. 



12th. My son reports vast numbers of Wood-Pigeons in our 

 oak-woods. We have a very plentiful crop of acorns, and from 

 the above, and many other reports recently received, I believe 

 that there are more Wood-Pigeons in this neighbourhood than 

 at any time since the winter of 1870-71. 



16th. A male Shoveller, about half-moulted, brought in from 

 the river below Lilford. 



16th. A Curlew was seen near Thorpe and Tichmarsh by 

 several separate persons. This is an unusual occurrence here- 

 abouts at this season. 



19th. The decoy-man brought in nine Teal from the decoy, 

 and left about as many more on the pool : this is the first "lot" 

 of this species that has visited the pool this season. The decoy- 



