Birds. 5595 



bourne, and was presented to me by the gentleman who shot it. Two young gentle- 

 men, Thomas Briscoe and John Deans, Esqrs., were beating over some sedge which 

 fringes an outlet of the Trent near Weston Cliff, when their dog made a stand, and, 

 upon close inspection, it was seen that a bird was near: the bird did not seem inclined 

 to quit his quarters, but as the dog approached him threw himself upon his back, and 

 erected the feathers upon his neck, making a frill as starched as Queen Elizabeth's: 

 after some little time, up rose the bird, — a bittern, — and instantly fell before the gun. 

 It is a rare circumstance to find a bittern in Derbyshire so late in the season : when 

 found it has usually occurred in mid-winter and in severe weather. The bird was 

 remarkably fat: in the stomach were the bones of frogs, the remains of small fish and 

 water-beetles, a black substance resembling peat, and a frog divided down the middle. 

 The bird was a female, and the ovarium contained very small eggs.— -John Joseph 

 Briggs; King's Newton, Swarkeston, Derbyshire, March 7, 1857. 



Mute Swans in Dundalk Bay. — I have to inform you that, on the 27ih of 

 February last, a flock of six swans was observed by a wild-fowl shooter in Dundalk 

 Bay, on the north-eastern coast of Ireland, flying a long way out at sea; he saw them 

 alight on the water, about a mile from the shore, and then, from a boat, shot one, 

 which he brought to me, and which proved to be the mute swan (Cygnus olor). It 

 was well-grown, measuring 5 feet from beak to tail, and weighing 21 lbs., but still 

 gray on the head and parts of the back. The shooter says that all the swans in the 

 flock had some gray plumage: they were doubtless of the same species. In Belfast 

 Harbour and Strangford Lough small flocks of mute swans have appeared now for three 

 successive winters, beginning with the severe weather of February and March, 1855, 

 and many have been killed. As I have not seen any modern record of the occurrence 

 in the British Islands of this swan in a truly wild state, although such may easily exist 

 unknown to me, these notices may be of some interest. The bird has appeared wild 

 on a few occasions on the north coast of France. — Clermont ; Ravensdale Park, Flurry- 

 bridge, Ireland, March 11, 1857. 



Occurrence of the Pinkfooted Goose (Anser brachyrhynchus) in Derbyshire. — On the 

 evening of December 7th, 1856, a large flight of wild geese was seen slowly making 

 its way over the river Trent, in the direction of Weston Cliff: they were journeying 

 southwards, and seemed much fatigued. When they reached the village of Weston, 

 several persons who had been warned of their approach stood armed with guns, and as 

 they flew low, nearly touching the houses, they fired into the flock, and, I believe, 

 brought down seven. One shot by Mr. Beck, of Weston, came into my hands, and 

 proved to be an individual of the pinkfooted geese. Upon inquiry what became of 

 the others, I was quietly told that " they had all been roasted !" I never heard of 

 any other specimens having been taken in Derbyshire. — John Joseph Briggs ; King's 

 Newton, Swarkeston, Derbyshire, March 7 , 1857. 



Occurrence of the Longtailed Duck (Anas glacialis) at Weymouth. — I have lately 

 seen a specimen of the longtailed duck ; it was sent me in the flesh, on the 2nd of this 

 month, for identification, by Mr. Weston, who shot it in the backwater of this place : 

 it was a female, as I proved by dissection ; the windpipe, as stated by Mr. Yarrell, 

 was of the ordinary form, that is, without any enlargement at the base. The bird was 

 very fat, and its gizzard was crammed with broken shells of the young of different 

 species of Littorina intermina, with which I found three Eissoa labiosa, and nothing 

 else: nothing but the shell remained, and this was broken into small pieces, and so 

 completely had it been effected that, in many cases, the polished lining of the shell 



