428 1'liE ZOOLOGIST* 



Birds of Prey in the New Forest.— In June last, during one of the 

 many bright days we experienced, I saw a large hawk, at an immense 

 height, wheeling in circles over a wood. I was inclined to believe it was a 

 Honey Buzzard — a species I have seen here years ago — but in this case 

 the bird was too far away to be certain about the species, and considering 

 the scarcity of this bird, it is more likely to have been a Common 

 Buzzard. In June also I saw a male Peregrine Falcon, which had been 

 killed in the act of stooping at a Wood Pigeon ; whilst a pair of Hen 

 Harriers — the male in immature plumage, but of full size— and a Hobby 

 were unfortunately killed in the same month. It is, however, gratifying 

 to know that a pair of Hobbies nested — and I trust reared a brood — not 

 many miles from Ringwood ; but I am sorry to say one of the old birds was 

 killed in August, after frequenting the same wood with its mate since the 

 beginning of May. I saw a male Montagu's Harrier in the forest, and a 

 keeper told me that a pair had a nest some two miles away — he believed 

 the only pair in that district — but that orders for their protection had been 

 issued, which I was glad to hear. I have since heard that the male was 

 killed outside the forest boundary, but that the female successfully reared 

 a brood. I also heard that no less than three pairs of Marsh Harriers had 

 nested in the forest during the summer, though I know not in what 

 particular locality. At the end of August two small hawks were seen 

 flying about a large field for several consecutive days, apparently preying 

 upon the Sky Larks, which abounded. Unfortunately, the gamekeeper was 

 informed of it, and on the 4th of September he shot one of them, which 

 proved to be a male Merlin, a splendid little bird. The man told me he 

 had seen another, rather larger and not so blue in colour, which I supposed 

 — no doubt correctly — was the female, but fortunately he could neither 

 shoot nor trap it, although he keenly watched and waited for it. It does 

 seem sad that the majority of notes on hawks and owls are the oft-repeated 

 records of their destruction, and it is no wonder, therefore, that many 

 species become rarer every year. — G. B. Corbin (Ringwood, Hants). 



Red-necked Phalarope in Anglesea. — I send you a little bird which 

 was shot here yesterday (Oct. 5th), and which I take to be a Phalarope of 

 some kind. It must be of rare occurrence, or we should see more of them 

 at the period of their migration. Although resident here for some years, 

 I do not remember to have seen another like it. — W» M. Wilkinson 

 (Cymyran, Valley, Anglesea). 



[The bird sent is the Red-necked Phalarope, Phalaropus hyperboreus, 

 in winter plumage. — Ed.] 



Purple Gallinule in Suffolk. — While in Bury the other day I was 

 asked to look at a " Blue Coot," which turned out, as I expected, to be one 

 of the large Gallinules, whether Porphyrio caruleus or P. smaragdonotus 





