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NOTES AND QUERIES. 109 
Little Auk (Mergulus alle)—In connection with the Little Auk 
“invasion” during the present winter, the following may be of 
interest :—On Sunday, Feb. 4th, a specimen was killed on the 
Chilterns at Ivinghoe, North Bucks. The bird was in very poor 
condition and unable to fly. Upon dissection it proved to be a 
female, apparently a bird of last season. Slight traces of spring 
plumage were appearing on the neck. The stomach was empty, and 
IT was not surprised to find that the bird weighed only 3 oz. On 
Feb. 5th and 6th I noted at least five specimens hanging in Leaden- 
hall Market, two of which I subsequently examined. The larger and 
better plumaged bird, which proved to be a male, weighed 41 oz., the 
other 4 oz. In the former the traces of spring plumage on the neck 
were very distinct. The stomachs of both specimens, which came 
from Norfolk, were empty. Another specimen, which I did not 
procure, was more fully advanced towards spring plumage. I might 
also remark that a friend of mine observed this species on the Essex 
coast during the same week.—Prrcy W. Horn (Stepney Borough 
Museums). 
Little Auks at Great Yarmouth.—The severe weather which pre- 
vailed during the first week in February wrought great havoc among 
the Little Auks. On this low, bleak coast, where there are no rocks | 
to afford them shelter, they were at the mercy of the winds and 
wayes, and being weak through scarcity of food, they were thrown up 
on the beach either dead or in a dying condition. I received one 
of these birds on Jan. 27th, and on Feb. 4th three were brought to me 
by the same individual, who informed me that another was picked up 
at Caister, two miles north of Yarmouth. As a last resource the 
strongest of them must have flown inland, as two others were picked 
up in the town, and one at Upton, twelve miles from the coast.— 
B. Dye (Row 60, Great Yarmouth). 
Causes of our Rare breeding Birds disappearing.—I do not dispute 
Mr. Jourdain’s objections to my remarks on the Golden Eagle de- 
ereasing in Scotland (ante, p. 75), for they may not be applicable to 
the present status of these birds in that country, of which I have no 
accurate knowledge; but they certainly apply to the time some years 
ago before the owners and tenants of the deer-forests in the High- 
lands and Western Islands of Scotland began their timely protec- 
tion, which has wndoubtedly saved the present race of Hagles from 
extinction. In Buckley and Harvie-Brown’s ‘ Fauna of the Orkneys’ 
a sad account is given of the persistent harrying of the nests, which 
resulted in the birds being permanently driven away from their 
