456 Birds. 



connexion with the death of the hird. The back of this bird is adorned with the beau- 

 tiful markings of black and white which characterize the species, but upon close exa- 

 mination, dark slate-coloured young feathers, beginning to cover the black and white 

 ones, are discernable: the chin and throat are mottled with black and white, nearly 

 concealing the upper band on the neck, but the lower one is very conspicuous. The 

 bird has been set up by that excellent artist Mr. Vingoe of this town, and is certainly 

 a splendid specimen, and in the best state of plumage of any bird of the kind remem- 

 bered to have been procured here. Ornithologists do not tell us that the fine black 

 and white plumage of Colymbus glacialis is peculiar to the summer season; but from 

 the appearance of the bird under notice (its neck having young white feathers, and its 

 back young slate-coloured ones appearing), I am strongly inclined to suspect that such 

 is the case, and that this species invariably assumes, or partially assumes in the winter 

 the plumage of the imber or young bird. The lateness of the change in the present 

 instance might be accounted for by the weakly state of the bird having delayed its au- 

 tumnal moult. The same observation as to change of plumage in winter, might be 

 made regarding the black-throated diver (C. arcticus) ; and even with respect to the 

 red-throated bird (C. septentrionalis), authors seem at variance as to whether it does 

 or does not lose its red throat in the winter. Might I request information on the sub- 

 ject from some of your numerous correspondents ? — Alfred Greenwood; Penzance, 

 December 21,1 843. 



Two Fulmar Petrels, taken twenty miles out at sea, were brought here on the L8th 

 of December. These birds are seldom found so far south. — Wm. R. Fisher ; Great 

 Yarmouth, January 15, 1844. 



A word on Nomenclature. The inconvenience arising from the diversified nomen- 

 clature of British birds has become so great as really to present a formidable difficulty in 

 conducting ' The Zoologist.' I allude not simply to technical names — the order, ge- 

 nus and species — but also to the English names. In an early number I shall recur 

 to the subject, and in the mean time solicit advice. — Edward Newman. 



" Table shoiving the period of Arrival of several Summer Birds of Passage, in the 

 neighbourhood of Twizell-house, for the last twenty years. By P. J. Selby, Esq., of 

 Twiz ell-house.* 



" The annexed table, showing the period of arrival of several of our summer birds 

 of passage, in the immediate neighbourhood of Twizell, for upwards of twenty years, 

 is taken from such entries as I had made each year, as the various species came under 

 my personal observation. Imperfect as this table may probably appear to the mem- 

 bers of the Club, I may be allowed to remark, that in many cases where the entries 

 seem to be the most deficient, this has not always arisen from neglecting to record or 

 watch the first appearance of a species, but from other and various causes. Thus, the 

 non-appearance of a particular bird for one or more seasons within the limits of my ob- 

 servations, prevented an entry, as did also the absence of any species from the precincts 

 of Twizell, till a period considerably posterior to its known presence in other localities, 



* Extracted from the ' Proceedings of the Berwickshire Naturalists' Club,' which 

 have been obligingly forwarded to us. We could wish to see associations of this kind 

 established throughout the Kingdom. — Ed. 



