NOTES AND QUERIES. 433 



the banks of the Muotta. It has a sweet song of its own, and almost 

 unrivalled powers as a mocking-bird. I heard it imitate the Nuthatch, 

 Wagtail, and other birds with wonderful accuracy. Bonelli's Warbler was 

 quite common in all the woods ; it is indeed the Warbler par excellence of 

 Brunnen. In appearance it resembles the Wood Warbler a good deal, and 

 its note, which is repeatedly uttered, also reminds one of that bird ; it is 

 certainly one of the poorest songsters amongst all the Warblers. There 

 were several birds common in England which we failed to find near 

 Brunnen, notably the Sky Lark, Greenfinch, Jackdaw, Rook, Sand Martin, 

 and a few others; on the other hand, we had the Cuckoo, Corn Crake, and 

 Quail, infrequently met with elsewhere. On the whole, I think it would 

 be very difficult to find a district more likely to reward the observant 

 ornithologist than this, especially if he were to arrive in May or June ; and 

 in this opinion Mr. Fowler, from his brief survey of the locality, quite 

 agreed. I was sorry that he and his enthusiastic young friend Mr. Playne 

 were only able to spend two days in the neighbourhood. At Brunnen we 

 noticed some large vipers, one of which seemed to be fully two and a half 

 feet long, and it bit savagely at my companion's stick. On one occasion 

 a Weasel ran out from the grass on the side of the road, and running over 

 to my friend George P. Farran, who stood perfectly still, it planted its two 

 fore paws on his trousers, and then, turning round, ran on before us, 

 frisking hither and thither like a kitten, with its tail in the air. — Charles 

 W. Benson (Rathmines School, Dublin). 



Partridges Migrating. — Have any of your readers observed Partridges 

 migrating? In 1889 there was an unusual number of coveys here. I left 

 a full stock, hoping for an increase the following year. Late in 1889, about 

 November 31st, I saw on a road near here a very large number of Partridges. 

 They went off towards the hills to the south-west. About two miles further 

 on the same road I saw another large pack, which flew off in the same 

 direction as the others. Since then I have had very few. In 1889 several 

 coveys appeared in my fields which were certainly not there at the beginning 

 of the season, and which I believe must have come from a distance. — Matt. 

 Weld O'Cannon, Baltrasna, Oldcastle). 



[Something of the same sort has been observed in the case of Grouse. 

 See Clarke and Roebuck, ' Handbook of the Vertebrate Fauna of York- 

 shire,' p. 62.— Ed.] 



American Red-breasted Snipe in Ireland.— On the 29th September 

 last I obtained a bird of this species, which had been forwarded to the 

 Dublin market, together with a lot of Common Snipe, from Maryborough, 

 Queen's County. The specimen proved to be a female in the immature 

 plumage of autumn, and is the first time this species has been known to 

 occur in Ireland. — E. Williams (2, Dame Street, Dublin). 



ZOOLOGIST, — NOV. 1893. 2 L 



