NOTES AND QUERIES 187 



and Cape Town. It should be remembered that the true Quagga is meant, 

 and not the comparatively common Bonte-Quagga, or Burchell's Zebra. All 

 assistance would be gratefully acknowledged should enough information be 

 gathered to publish in book form. — Graham Renshaw (Sale Bridge 

 House, Sale, Manchester). 



AVES. 

 Blackcap in March. — On March 12th I heard a Blackcap (Sylvia 

 atricapilla) singing among the thorn-trees on Clifton Down, and had a good 

 view of the bird more than once. It is natural to suppose that it has spent 

 the winter in England. — Herbert C. Platne (Clifton College). 



Wild Swans in North Ireland. — It may interest some of the readers 

 of ' The Zoologist ' to learn that there was an unusually large migration of 

 Wild Swans to Loughs Swilly and Foyle this winter. Mr. D. C. Campbell, 

 of Templemore Park, Londonderry, writes me " that one hundred and fifty 

 have been seen in one flock on Lough Foyle, and quite a number have been 

 frequenting the river some miles above Derry." Besides those noticed by 

 me near Bartragh in ' The Zoologist ' (ante, p. 39), several other flocks have 

 been seen and heard passing to the various lakes during this winter. — 

 Robert Warren (Moyview, Ballina). 



Unusual Numbers of Green Plover in Worcestershire. — During the 

 winter large flocks of Green Plover {Vanellus vulgaris) in this county have 

 been an unusual occurrence. They began to arrive in October, and during 

 November, December, and January the flocks were enormous. They seemed 

 to be plentiful over the whole of the northern half of the county, every suitable 

 field having a certain number on it, the water meadows especially being very 

 much frequented by them. Golden Plover also, which I consider rare in 

 this part of the county, were, during November and December, quite 

 common. For years the numbers of Green Plover in this district seemed 

 to be decreasing for no apparent reason ; I was therefore much pleased to 

 see them return in such numbers. I might also mention that Bramblings 

 and Redwings arrived in greater numbers than they have done for ten years, 

 and remained all through the winter, feeding with other Finches on stubbles, 

 except for the first fortnight after their arrival, when, as usual, they fed on 

 the beech-mast.— H. E. Howard (Stone House, near Kidderminster). 



Bleater Snipes (Gallinago ccelestis) near Aberdeen.— My attention 

 was directed on the 5 th of last July to a male of this species, which was pro- 

 ducing the peculiar noise which gives these birds their name. I again saw a 

 pair of these Snipe on July 16th, which led me to suppose that they were 

 breeding in the locality. Although they were so often seen through the 

 season as to show that they were resident, neither nest nor young were seen 

 to prove that they had nested. The occurrence of these two birds remaining 



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