394 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



Common Tern and a few of the Arctic Terns, are sometimes seen in 

 their aerial, poising flight over the river, and on rare occasions I have 

 seen a stray Tern in summer — I may note a Lesser Tern in June, 

 1889 ; but in their autumnal migration most species visit us, the 

 Black Tern certainly not being the most frequent. During August 

 I had heard of Terns being seen upon various parts of the river, and 

 that some were smaller than others ; two of these latter were shot, and 

 proved to be nigra, with the white forehead, collar, and under parts — 

 the marks of immaturity. Both were very lean in body ; the stomach 

 of one was quite empty, the other contained a few insect remains, and 

 one or two seed-like objects which it might have taken from the surface 

 of the water. Most of the specimens I have seen were in the plumage 

 as described above, but I have one in which the under parts are much 

 suffused with dark grey, and the white collar is not so conspicuous — 

 an older bird, I imagine ; and I have yet another, killed in this neigh- 

 bourhood some years ago — a veritable "Black Tern," in the almost 

 uniform dusky plumage of the adult. If I recollect rightly, several 

 others were seen at the same time as this latter was shot, and it is 

 certain this class of bird does not visit us so frequently as it used to 

 do, arising, no doubt, from the changed condition of the river ; a large 

 lake-like sheet of water, being either densely overgrown with reeds or 

 become dry land, with the main stream running through it in two or 

 three divided channels to the bridges, while the volume of water passing 

 through them must be considerably less than it was some years ago. — 

 G. B. Corbin (Ringwood). 



Manx Shearwater in Worcestershire. — A Manx Shearwater (Puffinus 

 anglorum) was shot by a working-man on a small piece of water near 

 Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, on Sept. 16th, and was brought to me 

 for identification by Mr. E. A. Stubbs, of Acocks Green, near Birmiug- 

 ham, in whose possession it remains. I am aware of but two other 

 occurrences of this bird in the Birmingham district. Quatermain, of 

 Stratford- on- Avon, told me some years ago that he had had one taken 

 there, but what eventually became of it I do not know. On Sept. 5th, 

 1880, one was captured by a boy in Highgate Park, Birmingham. It 

 was taken to a local birdstuffer, and from him passed into the collection 

 of Mr. R. W. Chase, who has recorded it elsewhere. The various 

 points at which these birds were obtained are all on the south side of 

 Birmingham, and it seems probable that they were vagrants from the 

 colonies of Pembrokeshire. They would conceivably follow the Bristol 

 Channel and Severn, the Stratford bird striking the Avon at Tewkes- 

 bury and ascending to Stratford. The others would probably leave 



