364 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



Albatross family, of which I am unable to give the specific name. It was 

 caught near Linton, Cambridgeshire, on or about July 1st, and sent to Mr. 

 Travis, with the written order (which I saw) to " stuff this gull." The bird 

 in colour much resembles a Great Black-backed Gull, and measured in the 

 flesh perhaps thirty-four or thirty-six inches, with an expanse of wing Mr. 

 Travis estimated at seven feet. The back and wings are somewhat paler in 

 colour than in Larui marlnus, but the tail is blackish instead of white ; the 

 head, neck, breast, and belly pure white. It arrived in a perfectly fresh 

 condition, and the colour of the feet and legs at once attracted the operator's 

 attention ; he described them as " fleshy blue," and this was quite per- 

 ceptible when I saw the bird, though it had been set up for some ten days. 

 So far as I am aware, only one Albatross of any species has ever reached 

 England alive, and this lived for a short time in the Zoological Gardens 

 some twelve or fourteen years ago ; but the beautifully clean plumage of 

 the Cambridgeshire bird quite precludes the possibility of its ever having 

 been in confinement. — Julian G. Tuck (Tostock Rectory, West Suffolk). 



[This specimen has since been submitted to Mr. Howard Saunders, who 

 has again consulted Mr. 0. Salvin, our great authority on the Petrels. Both 

 these experts pronounce the bird to be Diomedea melanojihrys, the species 

 " which haunted the Faeroes for thirty years, and which has also been taken 

 high in the N. Atlantic." — Ed.] 



Black-throated Diver breeding in Shetland.— During a recent stay in 

 the Shetlaud Islands, I was assured by a resident that he had several times 

 taken the eggs of Colymbus arcticus. I found that he had an extremelv 

 good knowledge of ornithology, and was perfectly certain of the birds, 

 having more than once shot them off the nest. He also gave me an un- 

 doubted egg taken by himself last year, but had been unsuccessful in ob- 

 serving any this season. — Bernard A. E. Buttress (Hendou, Middlesex). 



Curlew laying Five Eggs. —On June 5th last I discovered a nest of 

 Numenius arquatus which contained five eggs. They were all identical in 

 shape, size, and colour, wiih the exception of one, which was of a slightly 

 greyer tinge and rougher texture. I have not before noticed any mention 

 of more than the usual complement of four eggs being found. — Bernard 

 A. E. Buttress (Hendon, Middlesex). 



Cuckoo's Egg in Nest of Song Thrush.— On June 2ith I found an 

 egg of the Cuckoo in a Song Thrush's nest in my garden with three eggs 

 of the owner, the nest being apparently deserted. The Song Thrush's nest 

 is, I believe, very rarely chosen by the Cuckoo for the reception of her egg. 

 On July 8th I had an egg of the Cuckoo from a Hedgesparrow's nest, 

 which was certainly laid by the same Cuckoo, the two eggs being exactly 

 alike, but quite different from any of the others (eighteen or twenty in all) 





