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NOTES AND QUEEIES. 



AVE S. 

 Little Owl in North Devon. — A Little Owl (Carine noctua) has 

 recently been captured at Snapper, just outside Barnstaple, in the 

 North of Devon, and is now in the possession of Mr. Stowell, of Barn- 

 staple. I am indebted to Mr. W. J. Harte, of the North Devon 

 Athenaeum, for informing me of this record, which is interesting 

 because the specimen in all probability is the forerunner of an exten- 

 sion south-west of the species, which has recently been successfuUy 

 re-introduced into this country in Hants, Yorkshire, Herts, and else- 

 where. In Montagu's ' Ornithological Dictionary ' (Supplement) I 

 find, under the heading, "Little Owl" : — "We are assured by Mr. 

 Comyns that a neighbour shot at one of this species in the North of 

 Devon in the autumn of 1808." Other specimens have been reported 

 from Plymouth, Dawlish, Ashburton, Downes, and Pilsmore, the 

 latter specimen being in the Torquay Museum. Another record — but 

 still from South Devon — is given in ' British Birds ' for May, 1912, 

 p. 333. — Bruce F. Cummings (146, Holland Boad, Kensington, W.). 



Rough-legged Buzzard at Great Yarmouth. — On Oct. 16th, 1912, 

 I was shown an example of a Bough-legged Buzzard (Buteo lagopus) 

 which had been shot about a mile north of Yarmouth, on marshes 

 lying between the Biver Bure and sandhills. The bird was feeding 

 on the ground when first shot at, and it then rose to a considerable 

 elevation, apparently going away. However, the gunner observed 

 that it returned to the same spot, and by hiding himself secured the 

 specimen. The bird appeared to be famished after crossing the 

 North Sea, and when dissected its stomach was found to contain the 

 remains of a frog. The bird was found to be 21 in. in measurement. — 

 B. Dye (Bow 60, Great Yarmouth). 



Black-headed Gull in Full Breeding Plumage. — A Black-headed 

 Gull, which was shot on Dec. 16th, 1912, has been brought to me, 

 and perhaps the date may be worthy of note, as I have looked back 

 a great many years in the volumes of ' The Zoologist ' without 

 finding an earlier date given. The bird in question is in particularly 

 fine feather. — H. Marmaduke Langdale (Compton House, Compton, 

 Petersfield). 



