Birds. 5365 



opportunity of observing them, as they passed at about twenty yards distance. — 

 B. Matthews ; Plumtree, near Nottingham, November 20, 1856. 



Double Egg of Young Goose. — I have lately received a double egg, which was the 

 first of any description laid by a young goose last spring. The outer shell measures 

 4j g inches in length, and 2 T ^ inches in its greatest diameter ; the inner shell is much 

 less than the average of eggs laid by geese. Each shell contained a perfect yolk as 

 well as white, which is, I believe, not usual. Are all the double eggs which occur laid 

 by young birds? — J. F. Brockholes ; 7, Egerton Terrace, Birkenhead. 



Beautiful Variety of the Common Woodcock. — A most exquisite variety of the 

 woodcock was killed, about the 6th of this month, at Hanworth, near Aylsham, in this 

 county. Like the specimen described by Mr. Newman (Zool. 4631), all the markings 

 peculiar to the woodcock in its usual plumage are in this bird more or less faintly 

 indicated by the most delicate buff or fawn tint on a ground of white, whilst those 

 parts which, in the normal colouring of this species, are deepest, are here also most 

 plainly discernible. The whole of the under parts are white, yet still showing the 

 usual bars when closely examined, resembling the faintest water-markings, visible only 

 in the strongest light. — H. Stevenson ; Nonvich, November 15, 1856. 



The Teal (Anas crecca) breeding in Cheshire. — On the 15th of May last I received 

 from a country boy nine slightly sitten eggs of the teal, which had been found a day 

 or two previously near Leasowe. The account he gave of the nest agrees pretty closely 

 with that of Bewick : it was composed of a great quantity of materials, and lined with 

 feathers: the site chosen for it was a hole amongst rough herbage on the margin of a 

 large moss-ditch, provincially termed " fender." On the 26th the same boy had five 

 more quite fresh eggs, which were found in a neighbouring field. In this instance 

 the nest was composed of few materials, without any lining of feathers. On the 4th of 

 June four more quite fresh eggs were found in the same neighbourhood, and under 

 similar circumstances with the last. As the three nests, which were within a mile from 

 the shore, were so close together, and the second and third so badly constructed, it is 

 probable that they belonged to the same birds, especially as one pair only were seen. 

 I saw the parent pair of teals in the neighbourhood of the nests at the time, and it is 

 probable that they eventually succeeded in rearing a brood of young, since several 

 have been seen in company this autumn close to where the nests were found, and still 

 continue to frequent the place. — /. F. Broclcholes ; 7, Egerton Terrace, Birkenhead. 



The Little Auk (Uria alle). — A beautiful specimen of this species was taken about 

 the beginning of last November by William Hunter, Esq., near Kilborne, Der- 

 byshire : it was found on a small pool near the Windmill, and hunted down by a dog, 

 to which it afforded a considerable chase, by diving and endeavouring to elude pursuit ; 

 it was, however, taken alive, and put into coufinement, but it died the next day. The 

 spot where it was taken cannot be less than 120 miles from the sea, which is probably 

 one of the longest distances it has been driven from the coast. I am not aware of 

 another individual having been taken in Derbyshire : it is in the possession of 

 Mr. Hunter, of Kilborne Hall. — John Joseph Briggs ; King's Newton, Derbyshire. 



Explanation of supposed Phenomenon. — A few days ago, as T was reading Jesse's 

 1 Country Life,' I met with the following passage, and, as I have myself known a case 

 of the same kind, in which the apparent want of veracity in the narrator is satisfactorily 

 explained, I thought you might consider it worthy of insertion. Jesse says, " When 

 I was at a visit at the house on the beautiful island in the Windermere Lake, I was 

 informed that a person in the neighbourhood of Grassmere Lake has seen swallows 



