268 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



finch has occurred in England, I hope they may find mates if they remain 

 in the country. At all events, those who make a practice of destroying 

 rare birds will hereby be warned to be suspicious of the Rosefinch in Devon 

 at present, for such of these specimens as get successfully through the 

 moult will, of course, be undistiuguishable from wild arrivals. One bird's 

 leg has been broken above the hock, and has healed again ; so this indi- 

 vidual may be recognized if procured. — Fkank Finn (c/o Zoological Society, 

 3, Hanover Square, London). 



A Stronghold of the Chough. — There is as much, if not more, satis- 

 faction in recording the prosperity of a rare resident British bird as in 

 announcing the capture of the most extraordinary stragglers to our shores. 

 Pyrrliocorax graculus is a species whose distribution, on the sea-cliffs of 

 our islands, has been steadily narrowed ; and, as it is a very sedentary bird, 

 there is no probability that once exterminated it will ever re-establish 

 itself. I have within the last few years paid three visits to a spot on the 

 western coast of Scotland, where the Choughs, if not abundant, are at least 

 firmly established and prosperous. They suffered very severely during the 

 hard weather at the beginning of 1895, but since then I am assured they 

 have increased. They nest in three spots on this island — all very in- 

 accessible cliffs on the seashore — and very likely these three colonies keep 

 more or less distinct. I was anxious to ascertain how many pairs there 

 were, which is obviously difficult to determine ; and the gamekeeper 

 assured me that there were " several hundred pairs," and that there was 

 not the slightest danger of their becoming extinct. According to my 

 observation, the birds hardly ever leave the sea-coast. I have seen small 

 parties flying perhaps half a mile inland : their calls as they pass over im- 

 mediately attract the attention of an ornithologist, and much resemble 

 those of a small party of Jackdaws, but are rather shriller. I have also 

 watched them on the rocks at low tide, apparently searching for food. The 

 position of their nesting-places makes it practically impossible to rob them, 

 and I do not think the birds are persecuted by anyone. The gamekeeper 

 took some young ones, but failed to rear them ; they make very engaging 

 pets, I believe. A nest with eggs was also recently taken by the keeper 

 for an American museum. The birds may be identified at a great distance 

 with a glass, both when flying and perching, by their long red bill. As far 

 as I can discover, the west coast of Scotland is now the chief stronghold of 

 the Chough, though it has become extinct in some of the islands within 

 comparatively recent years. There are still some in Ireland, in Wales, 

 in Devon, and in Cornwall. Mr. Harting, in his admirable ' Handbook of 

 British Birds ' (p. 93, new and revised edition), mentions Dorsetshire. 

 Without making public the exact locality (as I have purposely refrained 

 from doing), I should be interested if some Dorsetshire correspondent would 



